Harry Mitchell

Harry Mitchell

Photo: Owner of Harry Mitchell Brewing Company, located downtown El Paso, Texas. In August 1933, Harry Mitchell, an English born former bartender, returned from Juarez , Mexico, where he had spent Prohibition running the Mint Cafe. He organized the new brewery with three other businessmen who decided to name the brewery after Mitchell since he was the most recognizable man in the area. With the help of brewmaster and consultant, Oskar Scholz, the new brewery was built over the ruins of the Old El Paso Brewery. Oskar Scholz came from Prague, Vienna. Scholz claimed that he would brew a full bodied and slightly drier product for the Harry Mitchell Brewing Company. On August 5, 1934, Mitchell's 35 employes began operations. On November 21, the first batch of harry Mitchell's Special Lager was released and greeted well. in 1935, Robert L. Neidhard became the brewmaster and changed the brewing process. Sales skyrocketed. By 1936, Grand Prize beer from Gulf Brewing Company in Houston began to take market share away from Mitchell's Special Lager. By 1941, Mitchell had lowered prices on his beers to $2.10 a case to compete. Eventually, things turned around, and in 1949, a canning plant was erected, and sales took off. After Mitchel retired, the name of the company was changed from Harry Mitchell Brewing to Mitchell Brewing. In 1954, the new owners, having won national awards for their operation, decided to enter the San Antonio market. As Mitchell brands gained market share in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, the San Antonio breweries retaliated by entering the el Paso market, and their local market share began to fall. By 1955, Mitchell Beer sales in San Antonio began to decline. http://www.texasbreweries.com/elpaso.htm

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Cordova Bridge Of The Americas

El PASO - CIUDAD JUAREZ

Plaza Theater then and now!!

This is a picture of a historical landmark that began in the ...

The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus

This hospital has been in the community since the early 1900s. ...

Victoria Sinclair - El Paso, Texas - 2016

Victoria Sinclair - Miss El Paso - 2014 - resident of El Paso, ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Yousuf and Hend ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Yousuf and Hend ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Yousuf and Hend ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf and ...

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017

Big Bun - Downtown El Paso, Texas - 2017 - Owners are Yousuf ...

home.search_collection